Mould for vulcanizing soles of rubber, plastics or the like to shoe uppers



Feb. 28, 1961 s. GHlGNATTl MOULD FOR VULCANIZING SOLES OF RUBBER, PLASTICS OR THE LIKE TO SHOE UPPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 16, 1957 Feb. 28, 1961 s. GHlGNATTl MOULD FOR VULCANIZING SOLES OF RUBBER, PLASTICS OR THE LIKE TO SHOE UPPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 16, 1957 United States Patent "ice MOULD FOR VULCANIZING SOLES OF RUBBER, PLASTICS OR THE LIKE TO SHOE UPPERS Sergio Ghignatti, Milan, Italy, assignor to Umberto Ghignatti, Milan, Italy Filed Oct. 16, 1957, Ser. No. 690,548 Claims priority, application Italy Dec. 13, 1956 Claims. (Cl. 18--34) This invention relates to a mould for vulcanizin'g soles of rubber, plastics or the like to shoe uppers.

Known moulds are subdivided along a longitudinal plane extending through the middle of the shoe. Such moulds give rise to a certain number of Waste, inasmuch as the tip and heel of the upper are easily liable to be come pinched between the two mould halves on closure thereof.

According to this invention, the frame shaped mould portion adapted to create the lateral sole surface is divided, one half thereof including the tip portion, the other half including the shoe heel portion.

According to an embodiment of this invention, the two mould halves are displaceable along curved paths, and are each carried by an articulated parallelogram.

The invention shall be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which show diagrammatically by way of example an embodiment thereof.

Figure l is a plan view of the mould,

Figure 2 shows the means for controlling opening and closing of the two mould halves,

Figure 3 is a plan view as in Fig. 1 but with the mould open, and

Figure 4 is a view as in Fig. 2 but with the control valve means in a position corresponding to the mould being open.

The two mould halves 1 and 2 are adapted to create the lateral surface and top edge of the sole for shoes having soles made of rubber, plastics or the like. The two mould halves join on planes 1a and 2a inclined to the longitudinal midplane of the upper, so that the mould portion 1 fully includes the shoe tip, the mould portion 2 fully including the shoe heel.

The above mentioned mould halves 1 and 2 are carried by supports 3, 4, respectively, each of which is included in an articulated parallelogram, the parallelograms each comprising a pair of connecting rods 5 keyed to vertical spindles 6.

v The spindles 6 have keyed to their lower ends arms 7 secured at their other end to rods 8 on pistons 9.

The pistons 9 are movable by pairs within doubleacting cylinders 10 to which pressure fluid may be supplied from a central delivery chamber 11.

When the pressure fluid, such as oil, is fed to the central portions of both cylinders 10, the pistons 9 and rods 8 are drawn away causing both parallelograms L0 swing for closing the mould portions 1 and 2 about the I central mould.

When the fluid pressure is supplied to the end chambers 10a of the cylinders, the mould portions 1 and 2 are displaced in a reverse direction whereby the mould is opened and sets free the sole just formed.

The mould portions 1 and 2 move along a curved path on opening of the mould, their joining planes 1a and 2a being positioned to prevent the upper from being pinched 2,972,777 Patented Feb. 28, 1961 between the two mould portions on closure thereof, thereby obviating waste from this cause.

Of course, constructional details and embodiments can be varied from the example described above and illustrated, within the principle of this invention, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a sole vulcanizing mould, a frame-shaped portion forming the inner peripheral wall of the mould, said portion comprising two complementary elements abutting each other along two contact zones lying in planes which are perpendicular to the plane of the mould, substantially parallel with each other and inclined with respect to the longitudinal middle plane of the mould, one of said contact zones intersecting the inner peripheral wall of the mould near the heel forming portion of the latter but somewhat displaced with respect to the heel back portion towards the tip forming Zone of said inner peripheral wall of the mould, the other of said contact zones intersecting said inner peripheral wall of the mould near the tip forming portion of the latter but somewhat displaced with respect to the tip towards said heel forming zone of said inner peripheral wall of the mould, and means for selectively drawing apart and joining said elements by moving them simultaneously in opposite directions,

'while maintaining them parallel to themselves, along circular paths of the same curvature but having their centers situated on opposite sides of said middle longitudinal plane of the mould.

2. A sole vulcanizing mould of the type in which the inner walls of the mould shaping the side wall of the sole are composed of two members forming together a frame and being displaceable away from each other for leaving free the moulded sole by simultaneously moving laterally away of the middle longitudinal plane of the mould, while remaining parallel to themselves, comprising two substantially L-shaped supports arranged to form a substantially rectangular frame in the assembled position of the mould, a mould element for each of said supports embraced by the legs of the latter, the first of said elements having its side wall comprising a part forming a portion of the inner peripheral wall of the mould extending from a point laterally offset of the sole tip arranged at one side of the middle longitudinal plane of the mould to a point offset of the heel back but lying on the other side of the middle longitudinal plane of the mould, and two straight portions parallel therebetween inclined with respect to said middle longitudinal plane of the mould, the second of said elements having its side wall comprising a part forming the complementary part of the inner peripheral wall of the mould and two straight portions adjacent to said straight portions of said first element in the assembled position of the mould, and means for selectively displacing from each other and assemblingsaid supports and said elements by moving them simultaneously in opposite directions, while maintaining them parallel to themselves, along circular paths of the same curvature but having their centres situated on opposite sides of said middle longitudinal plane of the mould.

3. A. mould for vulcanizing soles from rubber or the like to the shoe upper, comprising a frame-shaped member for shaping the side walls of the sole, said member consisting of two movable elements, means being provided for simultaneously moving said elements, said elements forming the inner peripheral wall of the mould and each having two abutment surfaces which are perpendicular to said inner peripheral wall of the mould, offset with respect to the tip and the heel back and arranged on opposite sides of the middle longitudinal plane of the mould, two pairs of vertical shafts, each pair on one side of each element, said shafts being equally spaced therebetween and from said elements, an arm fast to each shaft pivoted by its free end to one of said elements, the arms fast to the shafts situated on each side of the mould being parallel with each other and said abutment surfaces, and means for rotating synchronously and simultaneously the pairs of shafts situated on opposite sides of the mould in opposite directions for selectively disassembling and assembling said elements forming said frame-shaped member of the mould.

4. A mould as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means for rotating synchronously and simultaneously the pairs of shafts connected to the elements forming the frameshaped member of the mould, comprises an arm fast to each shaft at a region of the latter situated below the mould, said arms being parallel with each other and the arms fast with the shafts arranged on one side of the mould extending in a direction opposite to the'arms fast with the shafts arranged on the other side of the mould, a pair of cylinders arranged with their axes lying in planes each extending through the end portions of the arms fast to the shafts situated on opposite sides of the mould but both lying nearer the heel forming portion or the tip forming portion of the latter, a pair of pistons movable in each cylinder, rods of equal length fast with each piston and projecting outwardly from the opposite ends of each cylinder, means for operatively connecting the ends of said rods with the end portions of said arms, the length of said rods being selected in such manner that in the assembled positionof the mould the pistons are arranged near the opposite ends of the cylinders but spaced therefrom, means for simultaneously supplying a pressure fluid to the cylinder portions between the pistons and cylinder ends and selectively simultaneously to the cylinder portions between the pistons arranged in each cylinder.

5. In a sole vulcanizing mould, a pair of movable peripheral sections adapted to. jointly shape the lateral surface of a sole, one of the said sections including the tip forming'portion'and the other section including the heel forming portion of the mould, and an articulated parallelogram system for each section for opening and closing the mould, a single pressure fluid actuating means operatively associated with the two articulated parallelogram systems, said pressure fluid actuating means comprising two pairs of opposite pistons, a double-acting cylinder for each pair of pistons wherein the pair of piston-s is operative, piston rods protruding from each end of the cylinders, a common pressure fluid delivery source operatively associated with the two cylinders, and means connecting the piston rods with the articulated parallelogram systems thereby to selectively open and close the mould.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,428,664 Gregg Oct. 7, 1947 2,487,866 Gregg Nov. 15, 1949 2,795,934 Jenkins June 18, 1957 2,798,254 Canat July 9, 1957 2,836,873 Linge June 3, 1958 2,866,227 Davidson Dec. 30, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,055,939 France Oct. 21, 1953 489,771 Great Britain Aug. 3, 1938 

